Online and Digital Grocery Summit

Square

VISTATEC AT THE ONLINE & DIGITAL GROCERY SUMMIT

Worldside retail trends

May 15, 2017

On its second year, the Online & Digital Grocery Summit (ODGS) brought together leading worldwide retailers and CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) brands to think about methods and actions in order to optimize their brands’ digital strategies and online sales.
​​​​
It’s a worldwide trend: Each day more and more people are shopping through digital and online devices. The value of the online grocery industry in the USA was $7bn in 2015 and this is set to more than double to $17.25bn by 2020. Therefore, it’s fundamental for companies to start questioning their future as global digital organizations and that was the debate ODGS intended to promote.

During the event, global brands got to exchange their experiences and lessons learnt. Strong points their strengths such as their growing online sales were discussed, but more importantly, they had the opportunity to discuss their weaknesses and challenges such as competition and margins. The current dilemma is: While the amount of online shoppers has increased, online sales has also made the space more price competitive.

Is mobile commerce leading to more revenue?

According to Unboxed, a leading e-Commerce discovery platform specialized in applying advanced data sciences to connect shoppers to the products they want to buy, “e-Commerce is seeing nearly half of its traffic coming from mobile devices.” While the traffic is obviously welcomed by the retailers, a new trend might be appearing: only 25% of this traffic is converted into sales.

Through the use of digital marketing and brand promotions and global product campaigns, retailers are investing heavily to not only generate interest and traffic for their websites, but also in retaining their customers until they actually purchase something.

Offering market-relevant products is a key strategy to keep the customer engaged. Speak “with their accent” (Brooklyn vs Long Island) and promote location-specific product deals (Lobster in Maine vs Grass Fed Beef in Texas). Consumers are always keen to find a better deal elsewhere if there is co-cultural connection.

Grocery and retail need to “speak” in all languages

The clever and famous elephant from Dr. Seuss “Horton Hears a Who!” often proclaimed, ‘a person is a person no matter how small.’ Well, in the world of retail sales, a customer is a customer no matter how they shop – in person, by phone, PC, MAC, or Tablet. The trick is: How to provide an informative and engaging experience while keeping the price competitive? The Mobile shopping experience may be new, but what makes a consumer feel comfortable while in your ‘store’ really isn’t.

Speak their language

Care how your customer wants to read about your brand or hear about your products. If your consumers are millennials, they’ll want easy access and easy ways to purchase. If they are Baby Boomers perusing your ‘store’, shake their hand virtually by having a direct video chat in their language in their global region to build that bond.

Retail Apps aren’t enough for your global customers. They need to be localized to make sense. Make it easy and make it relatable. Don’t bank on the consumers brand loyalty or you’ll be left wondering where everyone went.

Isn’t a flip flop a flip flop, no matter where you are? No! A beach-goer in Spain wants a flip flop that rejects sand and water. A city slicker in Chicago wants something durable and comfortable to walk in for five city blocks. Make your product relevant and appealing in the ways you consumer needs.

Think Global

Being at this event confirmed the importance of what Vistatec as a company has been doing for many years — enabling companies to speak in their customers’ languages not only linguistically but also from a broader socio-cultural perspective is success critical.

Customers want to identify with the products they buy, they want to be engaged with the brand’s values. That’s where Vistatec comes in by offering services that have been helping some of the biggest companies in the world to optimize their global potential for over 20 years.#